Air conditioner



Sept. 23, 1947. as. cooPER In connmonn Filed sept. '7. 194s wwnwwwwwww Patented Sept. 23, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

The present invention relates to improvement in an air conditioner and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide an air conditioner in which novel means is used for applying water to all parts of the pad through which air is drawn'for cooling purposes.

In the air conditioners using a fan and a stationary pad with water applied thereto at the top of the pad and allowed to trickle down through the pad, the change in weather conditions such as a foggy day as compared with a sunny day yor the conditions during daylight as compared with night will necessitate the operator varying the amount of water applied to the pad, from time to time so that the air entering the room or house will be maintained at the desired coolness at all times. The operator must reduce the water supply to the pad on the foggy day and at night and increase the water supply to the pad during the day time andincrease it still more on a sunny day.

I provide automatic means for controlling the amount of water flowing over the pad. The coolness of the air is controlled in this manner.

The device is extremely simple in construction.

and is durable and ecient for the purpose intended.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specication, and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section taken substantially along the line I-I of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a section taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the valve mechanism.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In carrying out-my invention I make use of a wall of a building indicated generally at I, and this wall has a window opening 2 therein with a window sill 3. My device is placed in the window opening and it comprises a casing A that has a rectangularshaped end 4 and a cylindrical shaped end' 5.' In the end 4 I mount a motor E with a fan I operated thereby. The motor 6 may be supported by a frame 8 or other suitable means.

The cylindrical end 5 has a central bearing 9 that is supported by pairs of rods I0. A shaft II is rotatably mounted in the bearing 9 and has an extending portion for supporting a frame I2 which in turn carries a disc-like pad I3. The pad may be formed of any water absorbing material' such as excelsior and the lpad is retained within a rim I4. The frame I2 consists of radially ex- In Figures 1 and 3 I show a novel means forl delivering a stream of water against the pad I3 at a point to the right of the shaft II, see Figure 2 and near the top of the cylindrical end 5. The stream of water directed against the pad will saturate the portion of the pad and the weight of the water will cause the pad to rotate slowly in a clock-wise direction, when looking at Figure 2. Only a small quantity of Water is sprayed against the pad and this quantity is regulated to maintain the pad at the proper degree of saturation so that air sucked through the pad by the fan I will be cooled prior to its being delivered into the room through the window opening 2.

The advantage of a circular pad which is free to rotate over a stationary rectangular pad which is now used in most air conditioners and cannot rotate, lies in the fact that in the rotary pad, the water after striking'the material composing the pad, will start to run downwardly over the excelsior or other material, due to gravity and will follow a certain course. The slow rotation of the pad will change the direction of water flow along the pad because the center of gravity pulling the water downwardly is constantly shifting. The water will continually seek new channels and will be caused to flow to the drier portions of the pad.

Where a stationary pad is used and water is fed to it by a perforated pipe, placed at the top of the pad, the streams of water striking the top of the pad will gravitate downwardly through the pad material and will form ilxed channels for the ow of water. Large portions of the pad will not be saturated with water due to the tendency of water to flow along xed channels and the pad will therefore be less eicient for the purpose of cooling air for this reason. The lefthand side of the disc-like pad shown in Figure 2 will be drier than the right-hand side and therefore the pad will rotate continuously in a clockwise direction so long as the jet of water is played thereagainst off-center. In this novel and simple way I make use of the entire pad for holding water and therefore all of the air passing through the pad will be cooled.

In order to prevent the air after passing through the pad from containing too much water vapor, I providean auxiliary pad I6 between the cylindrical end and the inner end 4 of the casing.

The air must pass through this auxiliary pad and any excess water vapor will be given up and absorbed by the auxiliary pad. Also if the stream of water should have suflicient force to break through the pad I3 after the pad has been in use for some time, the pad I6 will prevent this water from striking the motor -6 and'damaging it. The pad I6 therefore acts as a safety feature'.

In the usual air conditioner, the amount of water delivered to the stationary rectangular pad must be changed according to the types of atmospheric weather encountered and according to whether the device is being used in daylight or at night time, in sunny weather or in foggy weather. This necessitates the operator adjusting the water valve at least twice a day, once for daylight hours and once for night hours. Furthermore, if the device is set for a sunny, hot day, it will not function properly for a foggy day where the humidity is higher and the air cooler.

I provide novel means for automatically adjusting the ow of water so that the air delivered to the room will be cooled to a greater extent on sunny days and to a less extent on foggy days and at night. In Figures l and 2 I show a water reservoir or tank I1 designed to catch any excess water dripping from the pad I3. The tank I1 has an outlet I8 with a valve I9 controlling the iiow of water from the tank. A oat is placed in thetank and actuates a rod 2l that is slidably pivoted at 22 to a lever 23, see Figure 3. The lever in turn is pivoted at 24 and has its short end bent at right angles and designed to crimp a water conveying flexible hose end 25 between it and a support 26. The rod 2| slides in bearings 2'I which in turn are carried by the rods I0. From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The water delivered against the pad I3 will saturate the portion of the pad placed to one side of the shaft II and this will increase the weight of this portion and cause the pad to rotate in the manner already described which will result in the entire pad Ibeing moistened with water and used for cooling air that passes therethrough. The float 20 will raise or lower according to the quantity of water in the tank I1. Adjustment is initially made lso that the desired quantity of water is fed through the water hose 28 by opening a hose valve (not shown) to the y desired extent.

The operator decides upon the quantity of water delivered to the pad I3 in order that the air entering the room will be cooled to the desired extent. After this adjustment has once been made with the source of water supply, the device will function automatically so that the air entering the room will be cooled to a greater or less degree depending upon the amount of water in the tank I1. For example; if the day is foggy, less water will be evaporated from the pad I3 and therefore more water will find its way into the tank I1. The tank valve I9 has been set to drain the water from the tank at a definite rate. Therefore, the excess water entering the tank will raise the float and this will cause the lever 23 to pinch the hose end more tightly to reduce the quantity of water striking the pad. 'I'he pressure of the water is increased slightly by this pinching action with the result that the hose end will be self-cleaning. Any foreign particle in the hose will be forced therefrom.

Where a metal valve is used, a foreign particle will tend to clog the valve and prevent it fromoperating efllciently. Moreover the water might cut the valve in time and cause it to leak.

What I claim as new is the distributing of the water over the entire pad and also the automatic control of the quantity of water sprayed against the pad, this being controlled by the amount of water evaporated by the pad. If the device should be turned off for any period of time, the tank I1 will be drained and the pad I3 will become dry. The float 20 will lower and permit the hose end 25 to open fully. When the water is turned on, a full supply will issue through the hose, cleaning it of any foreign matter and quickly saturating the pad with water. The excess water will drain into the tank and will raise the float and reduce the water ow. The amount of water draining from the valve I9 determines the float level and the amount of water delivered to the pad. 'Ihe amount of opening of the valve I9 therefore determines the dampness of the pad and this is one of the factors in determining how much water vapor is picked up by the air passing through the pad and how cool the air will be.

I claim:

1. An air conditioner comprising a casing opn at both ends, means for forcing air through the casing, a rotatable water-absorbing disc pad having its face substantially closing the inlet end of the casing so that the air will be forced through the pad from one face to the other, and means for delivering a stream of water against the pad off-center so that the greater weight of the water absorbed by the pad will be to one side of the pad center, thus causing the pad to rotate and continually change the gravitational pull on the water in the pad so that the water will percolate in all directions and be absorbed by the entire pad, the air flowing through the casing to the outlet, and passing through the moistened pad and being cooled thereby, an auxiliary pad placed between the rotatable pad and the outlet end for absorbing any excess water vapor.

2. An air conditioner comprising a casing open at both ends,-means for forcing air through the casing, a rotatable water-absorbing disc pad substantially closing the inlet end of the casing, and means for delivering a stream of water against the pad off-center, the greater weight of the water absorbed by the pad to one side of the pad center, causing the pad to rotate and thus continually change the gravitational pull on the water in the pad so that the water will percolate in all directions and be absorbed by the entire pad, lthe air flowing through the casing to the outlet end passing through the moistened pad and being cooled thereby, means controlled by the amount of excess water dripping from the pad for altering the amount of water delivered to the pad, and an auxiliary pad placed between the rotatable pad and the outlet end for absorbing any excess water vapor.

3. In an air conditioner, a horizontally disposed shaft, a disc-shaped pad rotatably carried by the shaft, water-absorbing material forming the pad, and means for directing a jet of water against the face of the pad off-center and to one side of a vertical plane extending through the shaft axis so the side of the pad lying on the same side of the plane as the water jet Will be weighted with the absorbed water more than the other side and will cause the pad to rotate, whereby the continually rotating pad will lcause the water percolating through the pad to follow continually changing directions forcausing all of the pad to become moistened..

4. An air conditioner comprising a casing open at both ends, means for forcing air through the casing, a rotatable water-absorbing disc pad substantially closing the inlet end of the casing, the

plane of the pad extending at right angles to the current of air, and means for delivering a stream of Water against the face of the pad to the side of center, the greater weight of the Water absorbed by the pad to one side of the pad center, causing the pad to rotate continually and thus continually change the gravitational pull on the water in the pad so that the water will percolate through the pad in continually differing directions and be absorbed by the entire pad, the air flowing through the casing to the outlet end passing through the moistened pad and being cooled thereby.

5. An air conditioner comprising a casing open at both ends, means for forcing air through the casing, a rotatable water-absorbing disc pad substantially closing the inlet end of the casing, the

face of the pad extending at right ang-les to ille flow of the air current, and means lor delivering'.` a stream of Water against the pad to the side of center, the greater weight of the water absorbed by the pad to one side of the pad center, causing REFERENCES CITED The follwing references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 797,661 Cline Aug. 22, 1905 1,074,037 Barry Sept. 23, 1913 1,728,177 Ehrhart Sept. 17, 1929 1,290,535 Cutler Jan. 7, 1919 1,181,886 High May 2, 1916 2,210,354 Bates Aug. 6, 1940 2,343,820 Thornton Mar. '7, 1944 2,326,089l Wittman Aug. 3, 1943 1,206,590 Purdue Nov. 28, 1916 

